Chinese scientists have identified aging genetic mechanism

Almaty. November 10. Silkroadnews - Chinese scientists have identified the genetic mechanism of the aging process, People’s Daily reports.
“Chinese scientists studying a worm have found the first genetic pathway underlying natural variation in aging, which could provide insights for the development of interventions to slow down the process in humans,” the report said.
Scientists have found that the combination of a certain neuropeptide coding gene and the receptor gene controls the work of the “longevity gene,” which regulates the rate of aging.
According to the team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Neuroscience, the more active the encoding gene and the stronger the receptor gene, the more rapid aging occurs.
An article about their research, which took more than five years, was published in the journal Nature.
Uncovering of the genetic secrets of the rate of aging is extremely important, as the average age of the world’s population is growing rapidly. According to researchers, aging is also a major risk factor for such diseases as cancer and diabetes.
Data by the United Nations says this year the number of people aged 60 and over has reached 1 billion people all over the world, and by 2100 will raise further to 3.1 billion.
Laboratory experiments were conducted on Caenorhabditis elegans, transparent worms of about 1 millimeter in length, which live in temperate soil environment. This basic animal model is widely used for studies related to age due to its clear genetic code and short life span - an average of three weeks.
Researchers, however, noted that they have not yet found a similar neuropeptide in the human body.
“But we know that animal evolution is conservative, and if we carry on with further studies we're confident that we will probably find that the mechanism underlying the aging rate of mammals is the same as for the worms,” the agency quoted Mu-Ming Poo, director of the institute and an academician of the academy of sciences.